Senate advances gay rights bill for first time ever

Thirty minutes before adjournment Friday, the Missouri Senate passed her bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against gays and lesbians in Missouri. The vote was 19-11.

The chamber is dominated by conservative, white, Republican men. Nine of them voted for it, joining 10 Democrats.

Justus, the Senate’s first openly gay member, had teary eyes when she talked to reporters afterward.

“One of the reasons I ran was because I am a firm believer, if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu,” she said. “I think today had a lot to do with the friendships I’ve made.”

Though the bill was rushed across the Rotunda in time for the House to take it up, House leaders let it die. They used their spare time — five minutes preceding the mandatory 6 p.m. adjournment — for announcements.

This is Justus’ seventh year in the Senate and the seventh time she has filed the bill.

“Right now you can be fired in Missouri if you’re gay,” said Justus, an attorney. “You can be kicked out of your housing or any public accommodation because you’re bisexual or transgender, or even because you’re perceived as being LGBT.”

At a hearing last month, her original bill drew support from lobbyists for the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City, which have local ordinances against such discrimination. But the Senate Judiciary Committee did not vote on it, so it was dead until she came up with a new plan.

Justus is a political pragmatist. To improve her chances of winning votes, she attached the anti-discrimination provision to a measure sought by business groups. They want to narrow the state’s workplace discrimination law by requiring workers to prove discrimination was a “motivating factor” rather than a “contributing factor” in wrongful termination cases.

Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed similar proposals. But Justus said she had “some feeling it might get signed” if her version passed.

Even though it didn’t, she claimed a “massive victory.”

Walking down the Capitol hallway with Justus after the House declined to take up the bill, A.J. Bockelman, executive director of Promo, a gay rights lobbying group, agreed.

“It’s a significant move forward,” he said.

The bill is HB320.